


Lady of the Coven

by ETNMystic



Series: Our Eternity Together [4]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, sketchy witch bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-01-23 03:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18541150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ETNMystic/pseuds/ETNMystic
Summary: Mystic, still on the run, finds a place to stay, but the lady turns out to be a bit......off.





	1. Gingerbread

I ended up walking for a good, maybe, half-hour before spotting anything remotely resembling a house. But when I saw what I came across, I had a bad feeling about it.

It looked like something you'd find out of Hansel and Gretel, an entire house made of gingerbread, gumdrops, and other goodies was just sitting there in the middle of the forest. Now I know fairy tales quite well, so when I saw that gingerbread house, I knew exactly who it was that lived there.

Yeah, that definitely belongs to a witch. 

All of a sudden, the door opened and out stepped a surprisingly young-looking woman with gorgeous brown hair. She wore a long black dress and had a fairly gorgeous face. I felt a mixture of confusion, fear, and intrigue. 

"Why, hello there," she called out when she saw me, smiling kindly.

I was entranced and shocked. She had the most soothing non-rhotic Southern dialect I'd ever heard. It sounded like something straight out of a Tennessee Williams play or a bona-fide Southern Belle.

"Are you lost, honey?"

"Yes, I am," I responded as politely as possible.

"Goodness! Well, we certainly can't have that. It's quite dark out. Come inside, child. I can give you shelter for the night."

I felt torn. I figured that this was likely going to be a bad idea. I know what happens to people who end up going into gingerbread houses. But at the same time, if Safiya were to find me out here alone........

I tried not to think about it.

Cautiously, I walked up to her door and went inside. The smell of sweets was rather overwhelming, but only to a degree, though not nearly as overwhelming as the amount of bird pictures hung about. A fire was crackling underneath a cauldron, its handle hanging on a hook. From the cauldron was a rather overwhelmingly lovely broth of chicken. But that wasn't quite what attracted me to it. There was something circular on it, glowing gold. I tried to get a closer look....

"Careful now, sweetie!" she exclaimed, holding me back.  
"I know it's a bit cold out in these woods, but there's certainly no need to set yourself ablaze."

Out of the blue, I was whirled around to face her, I suppose to get a better look at me, and she immediately gasped.

"Oh my goodness, aren't you just darling! Those doe-like eyes, that button nose, and those cute little cheeks," she fawned as she tapped my nose, I felt my cheeks blazing red.  
"You should consider yourself blessed. Most people would KILL to have a babyface like yours." 

I then suddenly felt a bit of my hair being lifted up.

"And my, my, my! Your hair. It's absolutely beautiful. Why, if I had to spin straw into gold string, I'd have a mind to simply take your hair instead."

I felt like she meant all of this as a compliment, but I was getting majorly creeped out. 

"Oh, goodness me! I'd nearly forgotten introductions. My name's Circe Jones."

"Mystic," I replied. 

Circe stared at me inquisitively, rubbing her chin with her finger.

"I don't believe I've ever heard of that being used as a name before. And anyway, you don't look like a Mystic to me. You look more like a Natalie or Lydia. Matter of fact, you remind me of a young woman who had that name."

"Which one?"

"You hungry?"

That....didn't really answer my question.

But I nodded anyway cuz I'm not about to turn down free food. 


	2. Hospitality

As we sat and ate white bean chili, which is more like a thick soup on its own but it's still really good, I started to get a few......vibes from Circe that told me "hey, you might have _another_  supernatural stalker on your hands!"

First off, she didn't stop staring at me the entire time and made absolutely no attempt to hide this. Whenever I looked up, she'd still be staring at me, while mindlessly eating her chili. I swear she only blinked a few times the entire meal. 

Second, when I tried to talk to her, trying to get some info on who she was, she would always try to turn it back to me. 

"So, why do you live out here by yourself?"

She shrugged.

"What about where you live? Is it nice?" she replied.

"I mean, I guess. Do you like where you live?"

She shrugged again. 

"Do you live with anyone?"

"I mean, I have 3 roommates at my apartment and my family back at my house. What about your family? Where are they?"

After maybe 10 or 15 minutes of this going on, she asked me one of the strangest questions I think I've ever gotten.

"Would you ever consider joining a coven?"

I nearly dropped my spoon. This was not something I had an answer prepared for, so it took me some time to come up with one. 

"A--a coven?" I stammered nervously.   
"I....don't think I'd be able to. I'm not a witch."

"Just as a hypothetical," she clarified.   
"If you WERE a witch, would you join one?"

"Umm....." I hesitated.  
"I'm.....not really sure. Does being in a coven require a lot of time and dedication?"

"Oh no," she chuckled.  
"It's been said that covens only meet on certain nights. Usually for worship."

Worship?

"Um, I'm not really that into rituals," I replied casually.  
"I usually like to just.....go with the flow. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged for the, what, tenth time that night.

"Just out of curiosity."

Okay?

"Hey, uh, I hope you don't think this offensive, but just out of curiosity on _my_  end, what's with all of these bird pictures?"

"Hmm? Oh! These? I find birds to be quite beautiful creatures. I developed an appreciation of them from my mother. Matter of fact, she named me Circe because it means 'bird.' I tend to call those closest to me birds, sometimes specific types of birds."

And because no one asked, she leaned forward, almost studying me, for a good.....five? minutes. 

"You look like someone I'd call........a songbird. Youthful, wide-eyed, not yet hardened by the world. Mayhaps, a lark. They seem like the most.....innocent and pure."

I sensed a shiver run through me when she said this. This was becoming a reoccurring theme in my life, and I hated it.

"Um, well, this has all been delicious, but I'm feeling quite tired. I should go now."

"Go?" she asked hurt.  
"Not when it's this dark out. I already told you you'd be spending the night in my place."

"That's sweet of you, but I don't want to take over your room."

"Oh hush, you won't be. I have a guest room prepared for such an occasion. “

“I really don’t want to be a bother.”

“I insist.”

Something about that last statement gave me the chills. It was very friendly, but there was subtext. Rather demanding and, honestly frightening, subtext. I didn’t want to anger this woman any further, so I nodded.

“Alright,” I obliged reluctantly.

* * *

Holding me by my shoulders, she led me up to a room, the door already open. Inside was a rather gothic-esque room: black and violet were EVERYWHERE.

“D’you like it?” she queried eagerly.  
“I decorated it myself.”

“It’s certainly interesting.”

We stood in the doorway in silence for a few moments. I swear I could hear her breathing and I was starting to feel anxious. 

All of a sudden, a clock gently went off downstairs.

“My goodness!” she crooned surprised.  
“Eleven already? I must be getting to bed. Help yourself to anything in the room, dear.”

And she left without another word. 


	3. Coded Photos and The Time I Almost Committed Arson

As soon as she was out of earshot, I shut the door and, finding a nearby chair, blocked the rusty black doorknob. I had a few particular goals in mind before I wanted to get the hell out.

First off, check out this room, see if there was anything that could be of use to me. If this woman WAS a witch as I suspected, then she may have a few things that could help me.

Second, figure out my magic a bit more. I may not have been a witch, at least not officially, but hey. If she had magical items, where better to test my magic? It was one of the reasons I ran away in the first place.

Third, I needed to get a better look at what I saw on the cauldron. I know Matt hadn't really delved into too much detail about them, but we hadn't found any of the tokens. I was desperate at this point to find even just ONE, and Circe seemed to have one. I just needed to check to be sure. 

I started in the drawers. Pulling out the first one, I found a partially-empty box of matches and an unopened box of wax candles. The second one contained a jar of salt and a goat skull. The third contained an unopened box of Girl Scout cookies. I kept finding more and more mostly average things, nothing really too interesting. 

That is, until I opened the seventh drawer.

Inside was a colored picture of a familiar face. She was standing next to Circe and smiling, but it looked like her eyes were red, as if she'd been hypnotized or something. 

"Alice?" I gulped.

I flipped over the picture and found a note on the back. 

_"Key to Duplication Orb: _

_ "1225491" _

_ Duplication Orb? And what's with these numbers? _

I checked more drawers, finding more and more pictures of people I knew; Nora, Penelope, Safiya, Manny, and more. Was she just trying to steer me astray? Or were these pictures legitimate?

I flipped over the backs of each of the pictures only to find a word written on each one.

**Nora:** the 

**Penelope:** not

**Manny:** my

**Andrea R.:** of

**Calliope:** Mystic

**Safiya:** the

**Nikita:** familiar

**Timothy:** the 

**Andrea B.:** night 

**Rosanna:** with

**Sierra:** any

**Matpat:** soul.

**Justine:** shall

**Glozell:** the

**Taylor:** the

**Alison:** On 

**Oli:** must

**Lauren:** become

**Mortimer:** the

**Teala:** Signed

**Roi:** interfere

**JC:** of 

**Colleen:** to

**Eva:** At

**Liza:** for

**Tana:** circumstances.

**Lele:** vessel

**Joey:** she

**Gabbie:** exactly

**Stella:** full 

**Ines:** the 

**Kasey:** bring

**Ciel:** stroke 

**Shane:** under

**Alex:** Circe,

**Destorm:** the 

**Dooper:** coven’s

**Sunny:** Yours

**Parris:** moon,

**Briar:** ritual

**Erica:** meeting.

**Tristen:** High

**Hazel:** Sincerely, 

**Tyler:** Priestess.

**Jesse:** midnight,

**Matt H.:** Alice

Okay, clearly there was _a lot_  to unpack, but seeing the word vessel made me have second thoughts about staying there. I decided to stuff them in my backpack, hoping to figure them out later. 

————————

There wasn't much else that I could find in there, so I decided to move onto the second task, whilst completing the first.

In an armoire, I found a candlestick holder. Grabbing it, I went back to the drawer and took out the matches and candles. I placed two of them on there and lit one. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus all of my energy on the candle. 

After about five minutes, I opened my eyes. To my utter disappointment, the candle had only lifted about an inch off and the other candle was still unlit. 

_Okay, breath. You've got this. It's just gonna take more patience._  

The lit candle dropped back onto its holder as I tried again, this time attempting to relax and clear my mind. Being someone with ADD, this proved to be a Very Fucking Difficult task. 

Twenty minutes later, I opened my eyes. Still not so much as an inch or two. I was infuriated and confused.

_ Maybe if I focus on the flame instead? _

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, this time focusing on the flame. The warmth, the wavering, the flickering, the......burning?

_ That......shouldn't be happening. _

Ten minutes later, I opened my eyes and nearly screamed. I _had_ moved the flame, there was no doubt about that. But now a small portion of the drawer below it had caught on fire. 

_ Do something, dumbass! _

Panicking, I ran to the bed and snatched up a pillow. I tried fanning the flame, in hopes that the air would blow it out. 

_ *facepalm.* _

Big Mistake. 

It then began to consume the rest of the drawers. So I just decided to beat the fire with the pillow. Once again, big mistake. 

"Are you kidding me?" I cried.

In a desperate attempt to fix the situation, I pulled out a teastone.

"I wish the fire was extinguished."

A golden glow and the fire disappeared as the stone turned to dust. Even though the fire was gone, the damage it had done was not. Placing the dust in the bag, I pulled out a second stone.

"I wish the drawers were repaired."

Soon enough, in an instant, they looked as good as new.

"Okay," I breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Maybe I should try something _less_ dangerous than pyrokinesis."

What if I had someone to help me out?

Pulling out a teastone, I sighed.

"I wish I had someone to help me with this magic."

Gold, dust, and in front of me was........

_ Fuck. _

I tried to pull out another stone, but the figure grasped my hand.

"You are _not_  getting out of this so easily," chuckled Not-Alice.


	4. Let's Make a Deal of Full Moon Divination

I tried to pull away, but Not-Alice maintained a strong grip on me. 

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" she asked mockingly as I struggled against her.  
"Can't handle the Pop?"

This made me stop. 

"Pop?"

Not-Alice seemed to realize she made some sort of mistake and let go. Rushing to the other side of the bedroom, I prepared to pull out another stone.

"Wait!" Not-Alice exclaimed fearfully.  
"Wait, don't!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," I groaned folding my arms.

She struggled to find something. 

"Because I can help you!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Well, you're not doing a good job at it."

I snatched up another stone.

"I wish--"

"Please!" she begged, near tears.  
"I wanna get outta this body!"

I was left speechless. What the hell did she mean?

"So you wanna die?"

"No! I meant out of this puny body. Cuz I'm not whoever this Alice chick is."

"Then why don't you tell me who the hell you are before I wish you straight to Safiya? Or pray?"

Both options seemed to leave her in fear.

"Okay, okay, I'll talk!"

She gave a sigh.

"My name's Candy Pop. I'm not a demon, at least I used to not be one, and this isn't my body."

Candy Pop?

"You're really trying to pull one over me, aren't you?" I scoffed.

"I swear!" "Candy Pop" exclaimed.  
"I don't know how I got in this body or how to get myself out. But you---"

They ran over to me and grabbed my shoulders with a crazed and desperate smile.

"You can use one of those fancy wish stones of yours and get me outta here!

"And why should I?" I wondered bitterly.  
"What've you done to help me?"

"I got you out of that lunatic's house. If it weren't for me, you'd be drinking some eterni-TEA!"

"Correction; you got us on the other side of the glass barrier."

"Whatever! The point is, you need me. I can defeat that jerkwad of a Cursed God with my hands tied behind my back."

I rolled my eyes again.

"Sure, you could."

"I CAN! But not while I'm stuck in this body." 

But then they gave a smirk. 

"And besides, tomorrow's a full moon."

This left me confused for a brief moment, until I remembered the photos.

"What's....gonna happen then?" I quivered.

"I'll tell you, little lark, but only if you switch dear ole Poppy back into his body."

"How do I know you won't just desert me once I do?"

I saw their expression falter and I shrugged.

"I'll get you out once we're away from here."

"Then let's book it!"

I shook my head.

"Not yet. There's something I need to do."

"And that is?"

Taking a deep breath, I told them.

"I don't know for sure, but I think I may have found one of the Tokens of Everlock.”

———————

"The tokens?"

"Yeah, Matt told me about them a while ago. I dunno how many of them are there, though. Probably a lot. Speaking of a lot."

I reached into my bag and pulled out the pictures.

"I found a bunch of these pictures, but they've all got words on the back. I think they form some sort of message, but I need help figuring it out."

I showed him the one of Alice and his eyes grew wide.

"No," he gasped fearfully.  
"I.....I never.....not with her!"

"Her?"

All of a sudden, he began to whirl his head around the room, investigating every area possible.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit!" he growled.  
"Kid, if that's who I think it is, then you're in a helluva lot of trouble. That woman's bad news!"

"Her?" I questioned staring at one of the other pictures.  
"You mean Circe?"  


"YES!" he hissed harshly.

I blinked, staring at the picture in puzzlement.

"But she's been so.....sweet to me. Sure, maybe a bit odd, but nothing extreme."

"Sweet?" he chuckled, before laughing loudly and hysterically; I'm surprised Circe didn't come running in.  
"SWEET?! Oh, hon. Don't let that Southern dialect fool you. That woman's nothing but trouble. And if she were to find me---or I guess Alice----I'd be screwed. And you are too!"

"Me? Screwed? No!" I sighed apathetically: really this was nothing new to me.

"I'm serious!" he shrieked quietly.  
"If she succeeds, then you're gonna be stuck here for eternity."

"And exactly _how_  is that different to what someone else already has planned for me?"

"Did she ask you about a coven at all?"

I nodded.

"Is she a part of it?"

He shook his head.

"Not anymore, she's not. She's what they call a bloodstain."

"Bloodstain?"

"When witches join a coven, they have to make a blood oath to be loyal to the coven. But that woman's gone against the coven, and when a witch betrays her coven, she's bloodstained. In other words, they slit her throat and her corpse is stained. With blood, obviously."

"So then why's she in communication with the High Priestess?"

"Because they don't know. They still think she's loyal. She's the queen of deception, and what the queen wants, she's gonna do whatever it takes to get."

"What does she want?"

"Like you don't know! You see the note on the back of the picture?"

"Yeah? Something about a Duplication Orb?"

"Put the pictures and that together."

"Well I would," I spat seriously ticked-off at this point.  
"But I don't know how to cuz you're not helping!"

"Calm down!"

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! I'm pissed cuz I don't know shit at this point, and now you throwing more at me all at once is just making me even more confused!"

"C'mon, doll. You're a smart cookie. You can figure this out. Just give it a whirl."

Sighing, still confused as ever, I placed the pictures on the ground, laying them out in a large rectangle, their faces up. My gaze gravitated towards Alex's picture. Picking it up, I flipped it around to read Circe,.

"Well," I hesitated.  
"I suppose since she has these, then it must be a message _for_  her. So that has to be first."

Still with the teastone in my hand, I flipped the picture upside down.

"I wish I had a pencil."

A glow and I felt something crumble to dust in my hands. Reacting quickly, I pulled out the bag and let the dust drop in as a pencil dropped against the floor. Picking it up, I write Alex on the upper-left corner of the back. 

"Then it has to be _from_  the High Priestess."

I searched in the rectangle until I found High Priestess on the backs of Tristen and Tyler's photos respectively. I wrote their names on the back.

"And my intuition is telling me that, since Signed, Yours, and Sincerely all begin with capital letters, and those are usually how you end a letter, that has to go right before High Priestess."

I placed Sunny, and Hazel's photos before them.

"But Signed Yours Sincerely, High Priestess seems so informal. There's gotta be something that goes in between. But what?"

I decided to flip over each one keeping track before my brain noticed something else.

"I can't really think of any other phrase where the word full would be used other than full moon. "

Putting those together, I noticed those were Stella and Parriss's photos.

"But there has to be something

My eyes fell on Timothy's photo. Flipping it over, the word the was on the back. I placed it in before the word High.

"Signed Yours Sincerely, the High Priestess. In other words, Teala, Sunny, Hazel, Timothy, Tristen, and Tyler."

It took me some time, but soon I spelt out my doom: 

_ "Circe, _

_ "On the night of the full moon, bring Mystic to the coven’s meeting. At exactly the stroke of midnight, she shall become the vessel for my soul. Alice the familiar must not interfere with the ritual under any circumstances.  _

_ "Signed Yours Sincerely, the High Priestess." _


	5. Here's Circe!

My blood ran cold and goosebumps emerged from under my arms like the undead from their graves. Circe was going to send me to get possessed?!? By the High Priestess of a coven? But, hang on. That didn't add up. Candy Pop said she went _against_ the coven. So then why did the High Priestess still contact her as if nothing had ever happened?

"This doesn't make sense, and there are few things unexplained."

"Like what?"

"What about the Duplication Orb?" I asked Candy Pop.

"You've got the message decoded," he told me.  
"Now you can put that and the orb together."

"Uh, no, I really can't," I chuckled nervously.  
"If there's a connection, it's a really abstract one."

He gave a sigh.

"I guess you'd have to know a bit about Circe's backstory to be able to piece the two together."

"What's her backstory?"

"When she joined her coven, she didn't know that the witches had a strict policy on family; you couldn't start one. But Circe, being a Southern Belle, wanted to start one so badly. She wanted a family of 'little birds,' it's what she calls children. She wanted to pass on a legacy, should she get killed. 

"Apparently there was a girl the coven sent out to trick Circe into luring her in, to see if she was loyal to her Southern Belle culture or to her coven. The girl became too much for her to handle, so she killed her. But the coven never got word of it. Matter of fact, it seemed like they forgot the girl entirely. But nonetheless, Circe became a bloodstain, and if the coven found out, that'd be the end of her.

"Because of the girl, and knowing that the coven'd want a virgin to possess during a full moon meeting, she created that orb. It clones you, but in exchange, you lose parts of yourself, which get transferred to the clone. The thing is, Circe can choose which parts she wants you to keep and which to give to the clone as well as what to add to you. See where I'm going with this?"

I did. And I was scared half to death. She could essentially reprogram me entirely, like a computer, make me the perfect daughter. I'd forget everything.

"And the clone?"

"The clone would be the end of the coven. See, a High Priestess can't take over half a soul. They need the whole thing, otherwise she, and those still loyal to her, dissolve to dust. So by splitting your personality in half, she kills two squirrels with one stone."

"Don't you mean two BIRDS with one stone?"

He shook his head.

"She adores birds too much."

"But what about the Cursed God?"

"Oh, she's not afraid of him," he scoffed.  
"On the contrary, HE is scared of HER."

"Why? She seems so nice and sweet."

"Which is exactly why he's scared of her. The Cursed God's more upfront with his feelings and intentions. But Circe's perfected the art of deception to such a degree that he can't tell which emotions are real and which aren't for her."

"Is there someone who she's afraid of?"

He gave this some rumination.

"There  _is_  one. Lilith Divola, she works with the Cursed God."

Lilith Divola......why'd that name sound familiar?

"Why is she afraid of her?"

"Lilith is a dark entity of her own. She's an alternate side of someone else. Her magic's more limited to those entities because they aren't fully human. Trouble is, Lilith wants you for her own as well."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" I groaned.  
"What happened to just killing the hero?"

"Oh hon," a Southern dialect oozed with condescension.  
"It's not gonna happen to you."

We both turned and jumped in fright to see her in a long black gown, smirking.

"Cause you're not the hero; you're the ingenue."

Circe Jones.

 


	6. Blue Roses and Honey

"Well, well, well," she chuckled as she stepped inside, carrying a kettle and some cups.

We began to tremble in fear as she stepped forward, hovering over us. What was she going to do? Was she going to boil us alive? Was she going to curse us? I knew neither of us wanted to find out. But just when we thought she was gonna nearly swallow us whole.

"Why, hello there!" she greeted "Alice" with a sweet smile.  
"Aren't you just a sweetie! Good things I brought more than two cups. Now everyone can enjoy some nice sweet tea."

That definitely threw him for a loop, but only for a few seconds.

"Don't play that card with me, you wench!" he spat at her.  
"I know your tricks."

She giggled innocently.

"That's cause you used to help me with them, Alice. How are you likin' your new form, dear? Not that much, I suspect. You missin' bein' a bird?"

"I'm not even Alice," he scoffed.

"Don't be such a silly," she denied as she set the tea tray on the drawers.  
"Of course you are! Now you two just HAVE to try this sweet tea."

He was left speechless as she poured the tea. I was both entranced and confused. 

"I've recently become interested in dialect-changin' teas. And where better to begin than my own?"

Hearing this, my face and eyes lit up like a Christmas tree as I jumped up onto the bed. Candy Pop gave me a glare that made me feel a bit attacked

"I knew YOU'D be intrigued, dearie," Circe giggled as she lightly tapped my nose, making me beam.  
"But I've made THIS one more specific to you. See, it'd be a bit odd for you to have such a mature voice with such a youthful face, so I went less for an Amanda and more for a Laura."

That couldn't have been a coincidence. Even though Candy Pop looked incredibly confused, I knew exactly what she meant, as I became even happier upon hearing this.

"Laura Wingfield is my dream role," I sighed in such a dreamy way that I knew it'd leave Ro in stitches from how adorable it was.  
"And  _The Glass Menagerie_ is my favorite play!"

"Why then, you are goin' to love the name of this sweet tea, sweetie," Circe fawned sitting beside me with a hot cup.  
"Blue Roses and honey."

I eagerly reached out for the tea.

"Don't drink it," Candy Pop growled.  
"It's probably poisoned."

Circe looked rather hurt by this remark, and to be honest, I was as well. 

"Me? Poison this darlin' little angel?" she gasped as she gave me a small peck on the forehead, making me blush.  
"Now where on earth did you get such a silly idea like that?"

"From what you did to that girl sixteen years ago!"

"That poor girl? Oh, she collapsed from exhaustion," she replied without even a waver in her speech.

"That's not true. I KNOW you killed her, and you've killed so many others as well!"

"Oh, poor Alice," she sighed as she handed me the cup.  
"You must be so confused and lost from your time away from me."

I took a sip and a subtle but sweet taste of rose water and honey hit my tongue and flowed gently down my throat. I suddenly felt a bit of a shift in my vocal cords.

"It's alright, Alice," I spoke, and gasped upon hearing my voice. 

It came out as a sweet, soft, youthful Southern dialect.

"It worked!" 

I set the cup down and embraced Circe.

"Circe's quite kind," I assured her.  
"Maybe a bit of tea'll help."

All of a sudden, I began to feel a bit sleepy.

"You alright, darlin'?" she asked me. 

I nodded.

"Just a bit tired is all."

"Well, it's no surprise," she gasped.  
"It's near midnight. You really should be headin' off to dreamland."

"Alright," I sighed.  
"But can I have just a little more tea? Please?"

I gave her my best doe eyes. Smiling endearingly, she put her hand over her heart.

"Oh, how I can say no to such a sweet and innocent little face?"

I drank some more tea and as I did, I felt more and more as ease. Soon enough I was under the covers and drifting off.

* * *

Once she was asleep, Circe gave Mystic another peck on the forehead.

"Why, isn't she simply darlin'," she sighed sweetly.  
"She'll make the perfect daughter."

By this time, Candy Pop had had enough, and this was the fuse that set him off.

"No more playing games, Circe!" he growled.  
"I _know_ you killed that girl sixteen years ago, and I know you've killed many others."

She turned on him, folding her arms.

"I see you haven't changed much, Candy Pop," she smirked, changing her tone almost entirely from sweet to villainous, throwing him for a loop.

"How did you.....?" he stammered in disbelief.

"Silly boy, do you really believe I'm that dense? I _am_ the Queen of Deception, after all. There isn't anyone I can trick. Even _you_ thought I had you confused."

"What do you want with Mystic?"

"You already figured that out," she sniffed.  
"The coven wants their virgin so badly; they'll have her, but that'll be the last virgin they ever possess. I want a daughter of my own, but one that's not a handful, not like _she_ was. But this one's sweet enough already. I would just need to make a few changes, take the clone to the coven's meetin', and leave before they turn to dust."

"You're an evil woman."

"It's all about perspective. To you I'm the worst woman to exist. But to this sweet little lark."

She gestured to Mystic.

"I'm like a mother to her."

"And you know----"

"All too well," she growled.  
"And he's NOT gettin' her. And neither are you."

She began to mutter something under her breath; Candy Pop tried to get away, but a black curtain covered his vision and his consciousness was stolen. He was out cold.

 


	7. Spirits and Surprises

My vision took time to come to. When it did, I was back there in that mindscape. Celeste and a few others were staring down at me.

"Took you long enough," Togami scoffed.

"Nice to see you as well, Togami," I grumbled as I stood up.

"Seems like running away didn't go so well, huh?" Lydia Scamander asked sheepishly.

I shook my head.

"But hey, the woman who took me in seems nice, so I've at least got that going for me."

Togami face-palmed as Toko spoke.

"N-nice?" she stammered in disbelief.  
"That's a laugh. She's the w-worst."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit? I mean, sure she may be a little strange, but that doesn't make her evil."

"She's worse that just 'a little strange,' Himiko warned.  
"She's downright diabolical!"

"I concur," Togami said.  
"Even I find her rather disturbing. Aside from luring her victims into her house, she has no consistent modus-operandi. An unpredictable villain is both an intriguing and exceptionally-dangerous villain."

"Even I would not bet my life on her being kind to me," Celeste chimed in. 

"The only one of us who isn't scared of her," Kaito Momota exclaimed.  
"Seems to be Maki Roll."

"No," Maki exclaimed.  
"I _am_ scared of her as well. In this world, magic truly exists, and even though we are considered entities, we are closer to human than Lilith is, meaning her magic has just as much of an effect on us as it does on you."

"You all sound just like Candy Pop," I chuckled.

They stared at me in frustration. 

"H-how about we let someone c-closer to her side of m-morality give you the l-lowdown?" Toko sighed as she pulled out her stun gun. 

Pulling the trigger, she almost instantaneously switched into the scissor-wielding maniac.

"Hey, hey! Welcome back, you naive lil bitch!" Genocider Jill laughed.  
"Looks like you got yourself a little feathered up with that bitch of an eyepecker!"

"What? What do you mean?" I exclaimed.

"I believe she is referring to Circe Jones," Celeste clarified. 

"I get that. She's the one who took me in, but we can't possibly be talking about the same person, right?"

"Try again, sweetheart!" Genocider cackled.  
"Circe's a downright nasty piece of a clit. Even I don't like t' approach her!"

"Why? What's she done that's so terrible?"

"Didn't Candy Pop tell you all of this?" Kokichi Oma groaned frustratedly.  
"The message on the backs of the photographs, the backstory? Ugh! Why are you so oblivious?"

"So that wasn't some sort of fever dream?"

"NO!" everyone exclaimed.

It sunk in and it was apparent on my face.

"Shit. But what am I supposed to do?"

"Stay calm," Kyoto Kirigiri advised me.  
"We're gonna contact Jael and the others to take you somewhere safe."

"I don't wanna be safe!" I snapped.  
"I wanna be surprised."

"It's not standard---"

"Fuck your standards!" I nearly screamed.  
"I'm done with being confined and trapped. I'm done with people telling me what to do and who to be; even the Society's been doing that. I can't be tied down and not even you, Kyoto Motherfuckin' Kirigiri, are gonna stop me from running away again!"

"But Circe's a different story," Kaede cautioned me.  
"She's manipulative and conniving. Plus she's got you captive right now. When you wake up, you're gonna be inside of a cage."

"Fuck," I growled as I dropped to the ground.  
"And if what I've heard is true, it stands to reason that it's a birdcage."

"Ding ding ding!" Genocider Jill shrieked.  
"We've got a winner, everybody! Give this doll a cigar!"

"I really don't need this right now. I'm stuck with a manipulative witch and a demon named Candy Pop."

"Well, if you'd believed all of this before," Kokichi scoffed knowingly.  
"You wouldn't be in this mess. God, you're so naive. You trust every stranger you meet. No wonder you gotta be protected."

As he spoke, something inside of me-that anger I'd suppressed for so long, the deepest bits of it-seemed to click on. Fire roared through my veins. My palms tensed up, clenching into fists, as I began to see red. Slowly I stood up.

"It's probably better that you're stuck in that cage. Once she changes you, you'll be where you're supposed to be. After all, girls are meant to stay in the home and be quiet and pretty."

With my head down, fire radiating from me, I strode up to the fucker.

"Look at you," he cackled.  
"You can't even fight me cuz you're too scared to. You're weak. You're too sweet to fight any-----"

And soon enough, Kokichi was cut short by my fist. It rocketed at the side of his nose with the force of a machine gun bullet. I heard something crack within 

"Shut your goddamn mouth, Oma!" I hissed venomously as he stumbled.   
"Or I'll shut it for you. Permanently."

He was taken aback; his hand went to his nose and then back down. There was blood, quite a bit of it. Seeing this, I felt a small sense of pride, but I also felt angry. I trusted someone and as we spoke, they were stabbing me in the fucking back. I had to step up.

"I'm sick of people like you placing those fucking labels on me. From now on, the only label I wanna be called is my damn name, and if you ever call me weak again, I swear to God I WILL kill you, slice you into bits, and feed you to a horde of rabid wolves. You fucking get me, Cockichi?"

His eyes stared daggers into me as he wiped the blood off with his sleeve. And then the weirdest thing happened; in spite of me decking him him, Kokichi smiled. A rather mischievous and villainous smile, but a proud one.

"Alright!" he exclaimed loudly and excitedly, jumping and pumping his fist in the air.  
"Now THAT'S the Mystic we need! Now all you gotta do is step up in the real world. I mean, don't do what you just did to me to everyone, but stand up for yourself, for your own destiny. Never go down without a good fight. Use both that anger and your intelligence. We believe in you."

Suddenly the mindscape turned dark.

"I'm still gonna contact the Society to come and get you," Kyoko told me calmly.

"No!" 

But I was over shrouded by a curtain of darkness.

* * *

Several jolts of electricity echoed in my ears as I woke up. Even though I was dazed, the rage I felt from the mindscape awoke with me. I didn't wanna be a follower anymore. I didn't wanna be passive. I didn't wanna be dependent on people anymore. I wanted to be active in my destiny.

One problem; I was in a bird cage. Being trapped in a bird cage is part of my greatest fear.

"Hey!" I yelled out, the tea having worn off.  
"Circe, where are you?"

There was no response.

"Circe!" I called out again just as I heard a stirring in the cage beside me.

It was Candy Pop, but he was still waking up. I shook my head. We had to get out. Now.

"Hey!" I whispered harshly as I tried to reach out to slap him.  
"Wake up, fucker!"

Hearing this from me, his eyes shot open.

"What was that for?"

"Where's Circe?"

"Hell if I know!"

"Good, then we're getting out of here."

I looked around my person until I saw the teastone bag high on a shelf.

"Damn it," I muttered furiously before turning back to Candy Pop.  
"Dude, check your hair."

"Why should I? You're not the boss of me."

"Check. Your fucking. Hair," I hissed angrily.  
"Unless you wanna be stuck in her body forever."

That gave him incentive.

"Okay, okay!" he conceded as he checked around.  
"What am I looking for exactly?"

"C'mon, Pop," I snarked mockingly.  
"You're a smart cookie. You can figure this out. Just give it a whirl."

If looks could kill, I wasn't sure who should be dead; him or me. Nonetheless he kept checking and finally he pulled something out.

"A bobby pin!" I exclaimed.  
"Perfect."

"Now what?"

"What the hell do you think, genius?" I scoffed.  
"Put two and two together."

"You need to watch your attitude, little lady," he condescended.  
"Sweet girls don't talk back---"

"Talk to me like that again, and I'll make sure your spirit stays stuck in a Bible."

It almost seemed like this made him put two-and-two together. He fiddled around and finally it clicked, the door swinging open.

"Okay, now me."

With the promise of me sticking his spirit in a Bible branded in his brain, he handed me the bobby pin. I heard a click and my door swung open.

"Next," I exclaimed as I stepped out.  
"The bag. Gimme a boost."

"Why?"

"Bible."

Immediately he squat down and I stepped on his shoulders. 

"Little higher," I told him.

Sure enough, just a few inches later, my hand grasped the bag. I took out a teastone.

"I wish the teastones that end up in this bag only work for me unless I give someone willing and genuine permission to use them."

Gold.....you get it by now. I quickly opened the bag and let the dust fall in before taking out a second stone. 

"I wish that the Duplication Orb was teleported to the middle of the ocean furthest away from here."

All of a sudden, we heard a shriek from several floors up.

"My orb!" Circe wailed.

Quickly I pulled out another.

"I wish Circe couldn't use magic to bring the orb back."

Not a moment later, we heard a frustrated roar that would give a banshee a run for her money. We heard footsteps running towards the basement, but I was already prepared.

"I wish Circe was confined to the top floor of her house."

And another scream.

"I'm gonna kill you, you little brat boy!" she snarled like a wild animal.  
"You hear me? I'll kill you!"

"At this rate, we're gonna need to find more teastones," Candy Pop scoffed. 

"We will later," I told him authoritatively.  
"Right now, we need to check her cauldron."

We rushed upstairs.

"Hello?" she called out as she came over to the stair railing.  
"Mystic, sweetie? Is that you? Oh thank the lord! Can you help mother out pretty please?"

"Up yours!" I spat.

This apparently took her aback.

"Now, sweetheart," she chided condescendingly.  
"That's not how little girls are supposed to talk."

"Fuck off, you bitch!" I hissed back as I stepped towards the cauldron.  
"I know who you really are, and we're taking something I should've grabbed last night."

"What?" she shrieked.  
"No, not my token! That's what's keeping him away! Please, Mystic. Sweetheart. Just leave that alone. I promise I won't use the orb on you. Just please. Stay with me. Be my sweet little girl. We could be so happy together."

I looked down at the bottom of the cauldron, blocking out her condescending and frightened threats. Sure enough, there was a gold token with the word  _Everlock_ carved onto it. In the center was a witch's hat. Immediately I snatched it up and dropped it in my bag. As soon as I did, she screamed.

"Put that back! You don't know what you just di--"

She trailed off as her face turned snow white. At the bottom of the stairs was a pale woman of about maybe 18 years of age.

"Guinevere," she squeaked.

The ghost girl looked up at her with furious eyes as other ghost boys and girls glided beside her.

"We've had enough of your tricks, Circe," she snapped.  
"And now that that token's in the right hands, it's time for you to burn."

She snapped her fingers and a scream erupted from Circe. Nearby a fire began to burn, closing in on her. 

"Wait," I exclaimed as I turned to Guinevere.  
"What if we--?"

I whispered something in her ear. I could tell she was interested.

"I see," she remarked.  
"Seems fitting."

Snapping her fingers, we looked out to her backyard to see a gravestone appearing and the ground below it sinking into a rectangle. All of a sudden, an open coffin appeared beside it and then---

"Please!" she cried, tears coming to her eyes.  
"Not that! Please don't put me in that."

I looked up at her and my heart hurt a little. Even if she WAS the Queen of Deception, I could tell that those were real tears. I tuned back to Guinevere and whispered.

"Well, if you insist," she sighed.

With a snap of her fingers, Circe's eyes shut and she laid down on the ground. Another snap of her fingers, and Circe began to turn to ash, floating out the door and into the air, but a small cloud of it passed my ear, whispering  _Thank you, darlin'._

And I knew that this was genuine. 

"She's gone," Candy Pop sighed solemnly.

"Yeah," I agreed despondently.

"But you're one step closer to taking down the Cursed God," Guinevere pointed out.  
"Unfortunately, it's the same with Guinevere."

This took me by surprise and confusion, but before I could say anything, one of the ghost boys gave me a bottle.

"This should explain everything," Guinevere told me.

We started to walk out the door, but we realized we were several people short. Turning around we saw the ghost kids waving at us.

"You're not coming with us?" I asked sadly.

Guinevere shook her head.

"Our souls were bound to this property because of that woman. Even though she's dead, we can't follow you. We have to go to the afterlife. Don't worry. Keep moving forward."

Before I could give a proper goodbye, they all faded away.

* * *

We stepped outside of the gingerbread house, which was now crumbling into ash. By then the sun was just coming up.Candy Pop and I took a look at each other.

"We got one of the tokens," I smiled sadly.  
"One step closer to freedom."

He nodded.

"Maybe we should look at the note," he suggested.

I nodded and popped open the cork, letting the scroll fall out before letting it unroll and reading it to myself. And when I did, my heart dropped.

"No," I gasped.  
"Oh fuck no!"

"What is it?" Candy Pop asked worried.

Taking a deep breath, I read aloud.

_If you are reading this, you have found one of the seven tokens of Everlock. This one is a freebie, I suppose you could say. Unfortunately, the rest will require your own sacrifices. In order to obtain the other tokens, someone will have to die._


	8. Run-off

What? Death? So this was gonna be exactly like  _Escape the Night_? 

"She said seven tokens in total," I noted.  
"So that means six more people have to die? Hell no!"

I threw the bottle down and walked in the other direction. I didn't bother to look behind me, even as Candy Pop's footsteps shuffled up.

"Wha--Where are you going?"

"None of your business," I spat bitterly. 

"Christ, when'd you get so bossy?" he grumbled.

"Bossy?" I growled.  
"BOSSY? Who was the one who told me to figure that picture shit out? You want me to take initiative and so I am. Goodbye."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," he tried to grab my wrist but I pulled away.  
"We had a deal."

"Yeah? So? The deal's post-phoned. Once things settle down and I find a way to keep everyone from dying."

"Then why are you leaving?" 

"So no one has to die, dipshit."

"Do you wanna marry the Cursed God?"

"At this point, I just want to be alone!!!!"

Lunging out, I bit down on his arm, giving me some time to run off, not daring to look back.

* * *

Candy Pop lurched back as he felt Mystic's teeth sink into his arm. The bite was sharp, fang-sharp.

_Damn, is she part vampire?_

He'd thought she'd be easier to handle than this. 

Not a moment after, footsteps came running up. Glancing up, still grasping his arm, he saw the Society, the writers, and the guests approach him.

"Where's Mystic?" JC asked.

Sucking air through his teeth as the pain radiated through his arm, he tried to get the words out.

"She.......ran......ran off."

"Are you kidding me?" Nikita groaned.  
"We're trying to help her and she's running away?"

"On our end, however," Jael piped up.  
"We have some good news. We've managed to calm down Safiya."

She stepped aside to see that, indeed, Saf was back to normal.

"What the hell was causing her to act like that?" he wondered.

"We believe it was a spell from the Cursed God," Calliope suggested. 

All of a sudden, Alison ran over to the pile of now-ash. Picking it up, she examined it intensely.

"She's collected a token," she gasped.

"Finally!" Matt exclaimed excitedly.

"Bad news, however," Candy Pop told them.  
"The coven's supposed to meet tonight."

"We know," Ryu assured him.  
"We're working to keep them restrained, but it will be difficult. On the full moon, magic is at its most powerful. Roughly two or three full moons after will be the Blood Moon, where magic can transcend convention."

"Some more bad news. Someone has to die for us to get the tokens."

The writers glanced at each other, not sure whether to feel excited or afraid.

"This is exactly like  _Escape the Night,_ " Nora pointed out.

"Yeah, no shit," Ines exclaimed.  
"So now how many of us have to die?"

"There are seven tokens. The witch's token was a free pass," Calliope explained.  
"At least six more of us need to die."

"I think the traitor should be the first to die," Ciel suggested.

"But we don't even KNOW who the traitor IS!" Kasey groaned.

"Um, I don't mean to be THAT person," Sunny interrupted.  
"But Mystic could be miles away from us by now."

Immediately Sunny started running off, followed by Ciel and then the others, leaving Candy Pop behind.

"Oh sure, just abandon me, that's fine," he scoffed as he trekked behind, unaware they were being watched in the bushes.

 


End file.
